September 13, 2019 — Most seafood industry members have likely never heard of Alaska’s Native Corporations, but with the news this week that Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) was cleared by the US Department of Justice to acquire and merge Pacific cod giants Blue North Fisheries and Clipper Seafoods, most people will know about them soon enough.

The deal, which is expected to close as early as next week, a source familiar with the process told IntraFish, would create a group with roughly 33,000 metric tons of owned Pacific cod quota, another 13,000 metric tons for management or lease, and $95 million in revenues.

Alaska’s Native Corporations have plenty of assets, and are much, much bigger than you might expect. Alaska’s 12 Native Corporations, created under a federal law in 1971 called the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, employ 58,000 people worldwide, according to the Alaska Resource Development Council. They are the state’s largest landowners, and combined corporate revenues for the companies is estimated at over $8 billion.

September 13, 2019 — The following was released by the University of Alaska Fairbanks:

Alaska Sea Grant is partnering with NOAA Fisheries to provide opportunities to Alaska Native and rural students at the federal agency. The goal is to increase their representation in marine-related professions at NOAA Fisheries, an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration formerly known as the National Marine Fisheries Service.

During summer 2019, NOAA Fisheries and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, which houses Alaska Sea Grant, launched a marine education and workforce development program that brought five undergraduate students to the UAF campus for a two-week course run by Vladimir Alexeev, research professor at the International Arctic Research Center. It’s called the Partnership in Education Program Alaska. The program was developed by policy analysts Sorina Stalla and Megan Hillgartner and by UAF faculty member Alexeev.

This summer’s curriculum focused on marine sciences and the drivers of Arctic change, climatology, oceanography, marine resource management and policy, law, subsistence use and perspectives, hydrology, climate modeling, permafrost, interior wildfires, meteorology, atmospheric science and more. Following their course work and a trip to the Toolik Field Station on the North Slope, students applied their knowledge and completed internships with NOAA’s regional Alaska office and its Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Juneau.

The cause of death for nearly 300 ringed, bearded and spotted seals since June 1, 2018, is not known, according to the fisheries arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the management agency for the marine mammals.

“We’re looking at a broad spectrum of possible causes and trying to rule out what we can and narrow it down,” NOAA Fisheries spokeswoman Julie Speegle said.

Viruses, bacteria and algal blooms are possible causes. Water temperature in the northern Bering Sea and the Chukchi Sea the last two summers have been higher than normal. The agency is looking at possible ecosystem influences, including diminished sea ice, Speegle said.

Alaska Native coastal communities hunt all three seals for meat and hides as part of a subsistence life.

September 12, 2019 — The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has greenlit a proposed merger between the two largest Pacific cod longline companies, sources told Undercurrent News.

The DOJ review of the merger of Clipper Seafoods and Blue North, which is expected to include the Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) taking a majority stake in the combined company, was undertaken to ensure that the combined company wouldn’t create a monopoly. Sources told Undercurrent that the DOJ’s seal of approval means that the deal is likely to close this week.

Despite the combined company’s heft in the market, Clipper and Blue North argued that there are several factors that go into cod prices, like other species, “so there shouldn’t be any antitrust problems”, sources previously told Undercurrent.

September 12, 2019 — The latest of several trawling vessels to come through Nome this summer is the Northwest Explorer. As it conducts a research survey in the Bering Sea, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries scientists onboard the ship say they’ve seen signs that this year’s chinook salmon numbers are dwindling.

Jim Murphy is the survey lead for this surface trawl in the Northeastern Bering Sea, as well as a fisheries research biologist with the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, based out of Juneau.

“Yeah, we don’t see a large movement, because they still basically come out (of the Yukon River), take a left-hand turn, and go south,” he said. “They (chinook salmon) could be further north, but I think it’s more likely this is going to be a low abundance year for chinook or kings.”

A huge mass of extra warm water extending from Baja California in Mexico all the way to Alaska and the Bering Sea could result in death for many sea lions and salmon, as well as toxic algae blooms that can poison mussels, crabs and other sea life.

When it happened in 2014 it was dubbed “The Blob” and disrupted sea life between Southern California and Alaska. Now it’s back.

“Temperatures are about as warm as have ever been observed in any of these locations. It developed in mid-June and it’s gotten really big really fast,” said Nate Mantua, head of the Landscape Ecology Team at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in Santa Cruz, California.

September 10, 2019 — The following was released by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is meeting in Homer for the first time since July 1983, when Homer-area resident Clem Tillion was then serving as Council chairman. The Council will be in Homer again September 30 through October 9, 2019. Fishery managers, commercial and recreational fishermen, fishing families, and other local and regional stakeholders are all encouraged to attend.

The Council agenda includes an evaluation of modifying halibut bycatch limits in the Bering Sea to take into account halibut abundance, a final action on a proposal to change observer fees for partial coverage fisheries, discussion of potential changes to the Bering Sea cod fisheries, and development of salmon management for the portion of the Cook Inlet fishery access and management that occurs in Federal waters. “We’re excited for the Council back to meet in Homer and to hear directly from the local fishermen and stakeholders that have an interest in Federal fisheries.” – Simon Kinneen, Council Chair.

The Council will be holding its first “Introduction to the Council process” workshop on Tuesday, October 1 from 5:30 – 7pm at the Best Western. “We are reaching out to stakeholders who may not normally have a chance to attend a Council meeting, to provide an opportunity to learn about the process, and how to participate effectively,” notes David Witherell, Executive Director. The Council introductory workshop will also offer a brief outline of what topics are on the agenda so participants can gauge how they might be of interest.

Local stakeholders may also be interested in some of the Council committees that are meeting this week. Monday September 30, from 9-5 at the Best Western, the Council’s Cook Inlet Salmon Committee will be informally discussing progress on federal management of the salmon fishery in the EEZ of Cook Inlet. The Council’s Community Engagement Committee will be meeting Tuesday, October 1 from 8-5 at the Land’s End to develop strategies to improve the Council’s engagement with rural and Alaska Native communities. NMFS is also hosting a Recreational Fishery Roundtable Wednesday, October 2 from 5:30 – 7pm at the Best Western.

All of the Council’s meetings are public, with the exception of executive session. Local input is important and can provide critical insight from those ‘on the water’ who are affected by the Council’s actions. The Council’s meetings and presentations are broadcast through a link on the webpage (www.npfmc.org) and public comment is accepted for every meeting ahead of time through the electronic meeting portal: meetings.npfmc.org. That same meeting portal includes all details, documents and related materials for every meeting.

Luttrell, 67, who lived in Marysville, Washington, passed away while visiting his family ranch in Roseburg, Oregon. A cause of death will not be discovered until an autopsy can be conducted, James Davis, shop manager for Kinematics, told SeafoodSource.

September 9, 2019 — A marine heat wave off the West Coast is causing ocean temperatures to rise from Alaska to California. Scientists say it looks a lot like the warm water mass they nicknamed the blob five years ago.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right. Ocean temperatures, from Alaska down here to California, have been rising. This is a marine heat wave, and scientists say it looks a lot like a mass of warm water that appeared five years ago and was nicknamed “the blob.” Cassandra Profita with Oregon Public Broadcasting has more.

CASSANDRA PROFITA, BYLINE: The current marine heat wave isn’t quite as big or as warm as the blob, at least, not yet. But the last heat wave caused major upheaval in the ocean. A toxic algae bloom made it unsafe for people to eat shellfish up and down the coast so many crab and clam fisheries were closed. Salmon and sea lions had less food to eat, and warm-water species started showing up farther north. Chris Harvey is a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

CHRIS HARVEY: Given the severity of the last marine heat wave, the blob, we definitely felt it was our responsibility at this point to say this is something that we are concerned about, and we’re going to continue watching it with regular monitoring along the West Coast.